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'Tufnell Park' is an area of north London which straddles the border of the London Borough of Islington and the London Borough of Camden.

Contents

History

Origins

Modern era

Transport

Nearest places

Nearest tube stations

Nearest railway station

'Trivia'

History

Origins

Tufnell Park Road runs along the line of an old Roman road which stretches from the Roman camp beneath Barclays Bank and Batten's Carpets on the Holloway Road up Dartmouth Hill and over Hampstead Heath. For centuries the area was renowned for its dairy farms which kept London to the south supplied with milk.
It kept a rural air well into the 19th century in its important role as a base for a number of dairies supplying the capital. In 1753 the area became the property of William Tufnell who was granted the manor of Barnsbury by his father in law. The manor (now demolished) stood on the site of the Holloway Odeon. The manor's gateposts can still be seen however on Tufnell Park Road. Tufnell petitioned parliament for permission to develop his estate but the leases he was granted were left unused.
The estate passed to his brother George who married into a fortune owned by Mary Carleton in 1804, hence her maiden name appearing as two street names in N7. Serious building began in the 1845 with a scheme sponsored by Henry Tufnell and designed by John Shaw Jun - who had laid out the Eton Estate in Chalk Farm. This initial work was largely limited to the area around Carleton Road. In 1865 the scheme was taken up by George Truefitt who developed most of the local villas and St. George's Church (1865) - built for Anglican secessionists. The housing stock was of a solid nature, and Tufnell Park kept its good name until the end of the century. Charles Booth in his survey of ''London Life and Labour'' reported that the older streets (Anson Road and Carleton Road) housed a mixture of retired merchants and music hall artistes who were rich enough holiday abroad over winter. He believed that second wave of building around Hugo, Corinne, Huddleston and Archibald Roads threatened to create a metropolis "from which the rich would soon be going". The private girls school established at the corner of Carleton and Brecknock Road was closed in 1878 after many of its pupils drowned in the Princess Alice disaster
Tufnell Park was more fortunate than several of its neighbours. Whereas railway lines were sliced through Kentish Town and Camden in the 19th century, they mostly passed through Tufnell Park in tunnel, and Junction Road railway station provided a direct link with central London. Then as major roads were built in the 20th century, these too curved round rather than through the peaceful enclave.

Modern era

Nowadays the area is becoming more and more of a desirable area to live. It has one of London's most highly rated primary schools in the form of Yerbury Primary School, and enjoys access to high-quality local amenities as well as good transport links to more central areas. The area is home to many people who work in the media, including many journalists, writers and professionals working in film and television. One such person is Damian Lewis.

Transport

Nearest places

★ Archway

★ Camden Town

★ Holloway

★ Dartmouth Park

★ Kentish Town

★ Barnsbury

★ Chalk Farm

★ Highbury

Nearest tube stations

★ Archway tube station

★ Tufnell Park tube station

Nearest railway station

★ Upper Holloway railway station

'Trivia'

In the Channel 4 comedy Spaced, the exterior shots of Tim and Daisy's house were filmed in Carleton Road, Tufnell Park, although the address in the series was known as Meteor Street, Tufnell Park.
Writer Clive James spent a large part of his early life in Britain living in Tufnell Park, and describes in detail his disdain for it in his book Falling Towards England.
Dr Crippen lived in Hilldrop Crescent, Tufnell Park, where he famously murdered his wife.
In the 1980s Tufnell Park became notorious as the home of the anarchist group the Tufnell Park Militia (T.P.M) who had Margaret Thatcher's government in a state of total panic. The T.P.M. became affiliated to Class War in 1986 but later split because Class War were not revolutionary enough. The main members of the T.P.M escaped justice and went into hiding in Spain and East Anglia